What is the Individual Account Program (IAP)? The IAP is a defined contribution retirement program for all active Tier One/Tier Two and OPSRP members.

If you are a Tier One or Tier Two member, you retained your existing Tier One or Tier Two regular and variable accounts, but as of January 1, 2004, no additional member contributions have been placed into those accounts. Instead, your 6 percent member contribution is now placed in your IAP account.

ContributionsEffective January 1, 2004, 6 percent of your salary has been placed in your IAP account. The IAP can have earnings or losses and administrative fees are deducted from the fund's earnings as part of the annual crediting process. You are automatically vested in your IAP account when your account is established.

EarningsEarnings or losses are credited annually to member accounts and your IAP account is subject to earnings or losses until you remove the funds.

PERS works with employers to ensure that member contributions are accurate and complete before allocating earnings on a year-end balance basis so members are not adversely affected by posting delays or corrections.

At RetirementAs of January 1, 2011, when you retire from the IAP you must also retire from Tier One, Tier Two, or OPSRP. If you retired from one of those plans prior to January 1, 2011, you can retire from the IAP at any time. There are several important factors to keep in mind when you apply for distribution of your IAP account:

IAP accounts are credited with investment earnings and losses annually and will continue to be subject to loss exposure until you remove the funds.

Unlike Tier One accounts, IAP accounts have no guaranteed rate of return.

The IAP account is invested in a broad mix of asset classes in the same manner as the PERS Regular Fund.

You have the option to roll over your IAP account into a traditional IRA, an eligible employer plan, a 457 deferred compensation plan, the Oregon Savings Growth Plan, or other qualified plan.

When you retire from the IAP, you can receive your IAP account balance as a lump-sum payment or in equal installments over a 5, 10, 15, or 20-year period.

For IAP members who are also or were Tier One/Tier Two members, IAP benefits are in addition to any other PERS retirement benefit the member is entitled to.

If a retired member dies before all installment payments are completed, the beneficiary is entitled to receive the remaining installment payments and may choose to receive the remaining amount in a lump-sum payment.

BackgroundThe legislature created the IAP in 2003 to provide an individual account-based retirement benefit for new workers hired on or after August 29, 2003, and for Tier One/Tier Two members active on and after January 1, 2004. The IAP benefit is in addition to the member's other retirement program benefit (i.e., Tier One, Tier Two, or OPSRP).

The IAP was established to receive member contributions on salary paid beginning January 1, 2004. All member contributions (6 percent of covered salary) have been deposited in the IAP since that date.